September 28, 2026
Five years of closed sales across all nine towns: September is the busiest closing month and February the quietest, July–October runs 1.84× January–March, and working backward from a 60-day time on market puts the right listing date at about May.
What a $200,000 budget buys in each of the nine towns we track, from about 1,440 square feet in Marion to about 2,760 in Du Quoin — and why cheaper per foot almost always means older.
465 August closings vs 470 · 140 of the year’s 154 missing sales were Jan–Feb · Apr–Aug is +9 · why small-town medians mislead
456 July closings vs 457 last July · 7 of 9 towns beat last year’s median · the deficit was all Q1 · Greg Holthaus’ Q4 call
219 homes closed Jan–Jun (up from 211) · ~$115K median · 436 trailing-12 closings · Greg Holthaus' H2 prediction
Murphysboro, Herrin, West Frankfort, Du Quoin & Benton · medians $109K–$120K · ~$739/mo example payment · 780 closings in H1
2,032 homes closed · $278.9M in H1 2026 · Marion median hits a 5-year high at $259K · Greg Holthaus' fall prediction